Q&A with Mo Fountain

Roy Philpott

10/22/2003

"Our expectation right now is to win out," said Clemson defensive end Mo Fountain. "Every team for the rest of the season- we just have to go out and play our best against them all if we want to accomplish that goal."

Mo, how good did it feel to get on the field last week and really make a solid contribution to this team?Fountain: It feels kind of different due to the circumstances surrounding how it all happened, but now that I am out there I feel like that I can help my team out in a lot of different ways. I know I can help this team out.

You look at the rest of schedule, and it looks like that there are several very winnable games, and also one or two that maybe a little more difficult. As a player, are you guys talking in the locker room that there's a chance this team can win out and really do something special this year?Fountain: Yes. We constantly just talk about not giving up. That my have been what was going against us the last few years. Players may have been losing a little bit of confidence, but this year's team has a lot more confidence. Everybody has their head focused in the direction of winning out.

Do you feel like this team really has improved a lot this season but that it just hasn't shown up in your record yet?Fountain: Yup. I think people that watch the games, they can see clearly see that. We've improved a whole lot. In just about all of our games this year, with the exception of the first one, we've had a chance to win at some point or another.

Is it a little tougher this week to face a team that comes in 1-6, they've given up a lot of points, and really haven't had a lot of things go right for them this year?Fountain: Yeah, but the motivation of winning out helps us go out and play hard ball. That's just our expectation right now is to win out. Every team for the rest of the season- we just have to go out and play our best against them all if we want to accomplish that goal.